Advancements in design and fabrication processes of IC devices allow semiconductor manufacturers to increase the component density in integrated circuits and deliver smaller scaled IC devices. An IC die/chip may be encased in a final package (e.g. plastic casing) or may be used as a bare chip (e.g. flip-chip) for direct placement onto a printed circuit board (PCB) of an electronic device. Generally, as operations of the components (e.g. transistors) in an IC chip generate heat, the backside of the IC chip may be bonded, by a thermal interface material (TIM) layer, to a plate/lid for transferring the generated heat to the lid, which may be connected to a cooling structure for dissipating the heat. However, in scaled down IC devices, a thinner TIM layer (e.g. due to reduced space between an IC chip and a lid) may provide an inefficient thermal conduction from the IC chip to the lid.
Attempts to improve the thermal performance of the package include replacing the TIM with a material having a lower thermal resistance, such as silver or gold alloys. However, the cost of such materials may be cost prohibitive for typical IC lids and the hardness of the materials may increase cracking of the IC chip. Alternatively, the lid thickness may be reduced to lower the lid's thermal resistance, but then the IC chip becomes more vulnerable to cracking.
Therefore, a need exists for methodology enabling a more efficient heat transfer from an IC chip to its lid and the resulting devices.